Hidden Cornwall: coastal art by Sarah Adams

Padstow artist Sarah Adams finds beauty in the caves and remote corners of the Cornish coast

30th September 2016

Secret shores

Sarah Adams visits sea caves to capture their unique atmosphere on canvas, sometimes travelling there by kayak. The following 11 images chronicle the mystery and splendour of these hidden places

Portrait: Craig Easton

Arch at Tregurrian

A quiet spot south of Watergate Bay where the cliffs tower over stacks and coves and “echoed to the cries of oystercatchers and fulmar.”

Oil on linen, 120 x 120cm

Betrothal Arch

At the northern end of Watergate Bay, the cliffs appear rusty, ochre and sepia tinted. “I gave it the nick-name because of the proposals that had been carved into the rocks,” says Sarah.

Oil on linen, 50 x 120 cm

Tregurrian 2

This cave is noted for mudstones in pastel shades that make the arches and boulder fields shimmer with unexpected, vivid colour. Sarah explains: “Iron oxides leach through to stain the surfaces with acid yellow and oranges.”

Oil on linen, 60 x 140cm.

Newtrain Neap High Panorama: South

This composition was inspired by a Corot painting in the Louvre in which a building in the foreground occupies the full height of the canvas. “I let the tide cut me off for 10 hours. Special tides always feel like special occasions.”

Oil on linen, 50 x 120cm

Sunlight at Diggory's

This one happened by chance. A patch of sunlight caught her eye as she passed an arch on Diggory’s Island, near Bedruthan Steps, about seven miles north of Newquay. “A few yards later I turned back,” she said. “The arch had reinvented itself.”

Oil on linen, 60 x 140cm

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Polzeath to Pentire

Low promontories extend around the corner from the main beach at Polzeath, one of which has a natural arch. “A panoramic format made it possible to include the view down a gully on the left hand side of the image,” says Sarah.

Oil on linen, 75 x 225cm

Porthmissen, morning

A small promontory just north of Round Hole Point. “I landed the kayak for this one. It was private but for rock pipits and pigeons - and even a lone seal taking an interest.”

Oil on linen,120 x 120cm

Chapel Porth, quartz, oxides, mudstone

Sarah painted this in the winter when the sand had been pulled away from the cliff base to reveal a highly polished band. “I've also painted that arch in the summer. It needed a far darker palette.”

Oil on linen,120 x 120cm

Marble cliff

This cliff face near Porthmissen was initially sketched from a boat after two years seeking a perfect neap high tide. “I had to wait for the right sea conditions, as too much swell would make mooring in that spot impossible.”

Oil on linen, 170 x 170cm

Arch and Cliff at Tregurrian

"I needed a wider range of colours than usual to capture the play of light and complex geometry,” says Sarah.

Oil on linen,120 x 120cm

Labyrinth

Parallel gullies run deep into the cliff at Chapel Porth. “There is a waterfall at the back, and in winter a curtain of droplets trickles from a high ledge.”

Oil on linen, 140 x 140cm

Now see Sarah's paintings...

...for yourself at the Maas Gallery, owned by Rupert Mass – painting expert on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow. The gallery is in London’s Mayfair, and the exhibition takes place from November 9 to 18. Open Monday to Friday, 10am to 5.30pm.

Sarah’s work can also be seen this October (2016) at The Padstow Studioin Cornwall – open Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 11am to 1pm and 2pm to 5pm.